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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-STANWOOD-WA · Stanwood, WA 8,351 pop · income 69th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Stanwood
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stanwood on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Eaton · lowest
51,731
Eaton · lowest
51,731 median HH income
21.0% of the leader · rank #1
Forked River · near
87,455
Forked River · near
87,455 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #2
Stanwood · this city
87,477
Stanwood · this city
87,477 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #3
Moreno Valley · near
87,477
Moreno Valley · near
87,477 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #4
Keansburg · near
87,484
Keansburg · near
87,484 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #5
Le Roy · near
87,500
Le Roy · near
87,500 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #6
Upper Saddle… · highest
246,719
Upper Saddle… · highest
246,719 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Stanwood on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 8,351.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Stanwood - the verdict
Nationally, Stanwood sits in the 69th percentile for household income and the 60th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
69th
percentile, household income
87th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
60th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Stanwood, WA
8,351 people live in Stanwood, Washington - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Stanwood households earn a median of $87,477 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.1%. Home values in Stanwood run a median of $547,400, and the median resident age is 36.0 years. 22.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 55.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 149 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Growing), up 12% from five years earlier. Stanwood reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1088.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,472 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Washington's average monthly utility costs around $188 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 70.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Stanwood's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to housing and income to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Stanwood, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Stanwood?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Stanwood?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Selah (8,301 residents, $74,757 income); Duvall (8,279 residents, $178,821 income); Barberton (8,213 residents, $121,524 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Austell, GA (8,351 residents); Hampshire, IL (8,351 residents); Eaton, OH (8,353 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 22.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Is Stanwood growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,624 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +20.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 149 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Stanwood?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$87,477
Home value
$547,400
Value / income
6.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Stanwood?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1088.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 52% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
982.5
Violent rate
105.6
Total reported rate
1088.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 1.1% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
C
City profile score · Stanwood, WA
58/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A+
1.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime B-
106 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B-
$87,477
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
22.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
107.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Stanwood profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 92/100 (A+) · 1.1%
Violent crime: 69/100 (B-) · 106 /100k
Household income: 67/100 (B-) · $87,477
Bachelor's+ share: 40/100 (D) · 22.1%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Where Stanwood sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Stanwood's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Stanwood highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Stanwood, WA (this city): home $547,400, crime 1,088/100k
Hampshire, IL : home $316,200, crime 388/100k
Eaton, OH : home $134,700, crime 1,427/100k
Scott, LA : home $155,700, crime 2,299/100k
Selah, WA : home $366,100, crime 1,182/100k
Ephrata, WA : home $240,000, crime 3,107/100k
Sequim, WA : home $382,400, crime 2,340/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Stanwood compare to other US cities?
Where Stanwood sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income69% higher than other cities
Home value87% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety60% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Washington and the picture shifts: Stanwood ranks #39 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Stanwood against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Stanwood near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stanwood ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stanwood only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#263 of 565
53rd percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#168 of 565
70th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#469 of 598
21st percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#360 of 599
39th percentile in Washington
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
69th percentile nationally for median household income · 60th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Stanwood's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Stanwood's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Stanwood's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$547,40013th percentilemore affordable than 13% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Stanwood's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,302 of 15,516
More affordable than 8% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,582 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.3×, Stanwood sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,302 of 15,516 and #10,582 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$87,477Stanwood, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Stanwood, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Stanwood, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)22.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,351
Median Income
$87,477
Median Home Value
$547,400
Median Age
36.0
Poverty Rate
1.1%
Labor force participation
55.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
22.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1088.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
105.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
982.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Stanwood's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,797 residents
2021
8,053 residents
2022
8,399 residents
2023
8,698 residents
2024
8,911 residents
2025
9,421 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
149
housing units authorized
Single-Family
27
detached homes
Multifamily
122
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
17.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
133
84
49
$30.4M
2020
301
121
180
$55.0M
2021
183
92
91
$34.5M
2022
105
35
70
$20.6M
2023
64
64
0
$25.7M
2024
149
27
122
$34.3M
Permit volume increased 12% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.8%
Carpool
9.7%
Public Transit
1.3%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
8.9%
Based on 3,306 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Stanwood. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Stanwood is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Stanwood sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Stanwood compares to similar-size Washington cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.